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Halloween is tomorrow and here at Indoff we are gearing up for a big day at the corporate office. We will have our 3rd annual pumpkin decorating contest! In addition, we will be having a chili cook off and employees can wear their costumes! To get everyone pumped up, I wanted to look back at last year’s pumpkin decorating contest.

Last year we had the opportunity to host Counselor’s Best Places to Work 2013 Road Tour! They were our guest judges and chose Credit and IT’s pumpkin as the spookiest! It was a great time and we hope everyone is ready to see this year’s pumpkins! Who do you think will win?!

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A couple of months ago we created a quiz, “Do You Know the Truth About Indoff?”, to address some misconceptions about Indoff. From the quiz results, we were able to gain insight into what people believe to be true about Indoff and our Partner Program. Below are some of the results and answers to the major misconceptions. We want everyone to know the truth about Indoff.

77% of quiz participants believe that Indoff has preferred vendors that have to be used.

Indoff Partners have access to thousands of vendors nationwide with competitive pricing. We allow you to work with the vendors you are comfortable with or have experience working with in the past. You receive the true cost from the manufacturer and you set your own pricing. This is due to our excellent vendor relationships and strong credit rating.

74% of those that took the quiz believe that Indoff Partners pay for their own deliveries and installations.

Delivery and installation are costs of the job and are included in the gross profit calculation, so Indoff pays for 50% and the Partner pays for 50%. The installer or delivery company bills Indoff directly.

35.5% of quiz participants believe that Indoff Partners are not W2 employees.

The truth is that most Indoff Partners are W2 employees of Indoff and therefore are eligible to participate in our benefits program – 401k, long term and short term disability, and vision and dental insurance. You will also be covered by our liability and workman’s compensation insurance.

32% of those that took the quiz believe the Indoff assigns territories.

Indoff does not have territory restrictions because this limits selling potential. We do have account protection, if you develop an account, then you profit from the relationship.

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Indoff Partners, Brian Galloway and Brad Anderson designed, sold and installed the rack system and bin cabinets shown in the pictures below to help a customer solve their storage issues for their gift shop products. The areas shown are used to store t-shirts, hats, coffee mugs, and more. As you can see, they had to raise the cabinets on the rack uprights so the reach truck can go under the cabinets.

The pallet rack was manufactured by Husky Rack & Wire. The bin cabinets were manufactured by Parent Metal Products.

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If you don’t use promotional products, then it may be time for you to reconsider that decision. Check out these eye opening statistics about promotional products according to a study a done by PPAI (Promotional Products Association International).

88% of consumers that received a promotional product in the last 12 months recalled the advertiser.

According to consumers the main reason for keeping a promotional product is usefulness. Products ranking high for usefulness are:

Computer Products – 100%

Health and Safety Products – 100%

Writing Instruments – 91%

The most often recalled promotional product categories include:

Wearables – 41%

Writing Instruments – 35%

Drinkware – 19%

53% of consumers use a promotional item at least once a week or more often.

When it comes to frequency of use, the most highly ranked promotional products are:

Calendars/Planners – 85%

Computer Products – 85%

Electronic Devices & Accessories – 82%

85% of consumers have done business with the advertiser AFTER receiving a promotional item.

59% of consumers had a more favorable impression of the advertiser after receiving a promotional product.

58% of promotional products are received at a business establishment or event.

All of this information is from PPAI’s study – The Influence of Promotional Products on Consumer Behavior. To view the study in full, click here.

Check out this fun video done by PPAI with more of the statistics from their study.

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In any warehouse or distributing environment, it’s critical to prevent injuries and accidents, protect equipment, and make sure valuable inventory is secure. When it comes to the shipping and receiving area, security too often goes overlooked. Most busy operations don’t have the time to monitor visitors, delivery drivers, service providers, and others who enter the warehouse—much less total strangers who can enter through open doors in a bustling shipping or receiving operation.

Neglecting to limit access to the facility invites visitors of all types to wander around warehouse aisles, where they have access to inventory, tools, and private areas. This also makes your employees less safe. Even if the visitor is a legitimate guest, you should control his or her access to your facility.

What are some specific steps companies can take to make the warehouse safer?

When placed in shipping and receiving areas, driver cages can serve as secure waiting stations for drivers and other facility visitors until they can be properly admitted. Here’s a look at 3 key benefits of driver cages:

1. MONITOR AND CONTROL GUEST ACCESS

Driver security cages (also called man traps, dock cages, and partitions) are an excellent way to allow visitors access to the building without allowing them access to a warehouse’s entire inventory. In other words, visitors can enter the facility through the door, but can’t get out of the cage itself, allowing warehouses to decide who to admit and when (and prevent potential theft and pilferage).

For additional security and to make monitoring and controlling guest access easier, facilities can customize driver cages with service windows, steel benches, push bars, ceiling panels, and more. Driver cages, available in 2- and 3-sided configurations, can also be configured to suit a facility’s specific application.

2. PROTECT VISITORS FROM DANGEROUS, MOVING MACHINERY

Another distinct benefit of driver security cages is that they’re helpful for safety considerations. When placed in high-traffic shipping and receiving areas, driver cages help keep accidents at bay and prevent visitors from entering freely into forklift aisles or coming in contact with other dangerous, moving machinery.

Because driver access cages are usually located in active shipping dock areas, WireCrafters’ GuardRail Safety Railing System can be installed around the perimeter of the access cage for added protection.

3. DOUBLE AS EMPLOYEE ENTRANCE AND EMERGENCY EXIT

In addition to serving as a “man trap” for truck drivers, delivery personnel, salespeople, and other visitors, driver cages can also double as an employee entrance to the facility. More importantly, when installed in combination with a full width push bar, driver cages can be used as a quick exit in an emergency situation.

Sage Products, for example, had WireCrafters add an electromagnetic lock to their driver access cage so that employees could enter through the exterior door, swipe their employee badge on the inside of the driver cage, and enter into the secured warehouse area. In case of an emergency that would require employees to leave the warehouse area quickly, Sage Products had WireCrafters add a full width push bar to their driver cage.

FINAL THOUGHTS

In shipping and receiving areas, where crew is preoccupied with work and might not have time to monitor visitors, driver cages can help prevent accidents while protecting equipment, inventory, and employees. Driver cages keep truck drivers and delivery personnel secluded in one place when entering the warehouse or making a delivery, which can also prevent unauthorized personnel from wandering the facility and potentially leaving with something.

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My wife and I started out as cookbook publishers more than 15 years ago, creating and selling small cookbooks to housewares companies for use as premiums and in-pack items, featuring a logo and product information inside. Moving beyond the cookbook arena into other published books while extending our reach to additional types of companies seemed like a natural extension. So in 2002, we decided to re-focus our business away from direct-selling and bring published books into the promotional product industry.

At that time, customizing published books was a completely foreign concept to distributors and their clients. It even took time convincing the top book publishing houses to allow us to exclusive distribute their books to this new market. Today, I’m proud to say we sell millions of books that support thousands of promotions for many of our industry’s top distributors and their high-profile, often Fortune 500, clients.

Which of your books are hot sellers right now?

I’m often asked this question and here is my answer… Unlike every other supplier, with books there aren’t really hot sellers. Some years we sell more city/state books or quote books or business books or coffee table style photo books, so there are topics that are “hot” but we don’t have bestsellers, like a bookstore would. With our new, exclusively designed, journal collections, our hot sellers include our COOL, GROOVE and RHYTHM collections… these are selling so fast we can barely keep them in stock.

What are some of the top markets for books?

Books are read, discussed, shared, displayed and never thrown away, so top markets are typically those that promote to a more educated audience. Any company or organization that deals with professional people including, banks and finance, technology, insurance, healthcare, travel and professional services are several of the top markets.

What makes books unique promotional giveaways?

Different from other typical promo products, books are communication tools and keepsake gifts. My experienced account teams are extremely good at finding 2-3 books to perfectly represent every end-user’s brand, theme, message and budget. With books, there is only one question that truly matters… “What are you trying to say and who are you trying to say it too.” It’s our job to help distributors find books that make their client’s say “WOW! I love it! I would never have thought of that idea!”

What features should distributor sales reps note when pitching books to clients?

The most important features are the meaningful, keepsake nature of books, the opportunity for full-color customization on a book’s first page or front jacket, and, of course, the message of the specific book itself and the meaningful connection that book makes with the recipients…far deeper and longer-lasting than most other promo items. Bottom line: books are impactful, rarely get thrown away, are easy to customize, and come in almost every price range.

6. Can you share detailed info about one or two promotions for which your books were used (case studies)?

Salespeople at the Boston-based technology company Iron Mountain giveaway customized copies of the book “Leaders Eat Last,” by popular business book author Simon Sinek, to their top clients and new prospects. The message on the customized promo-page inside the book cover reads: “Just as Leaders Eat Last explains how loyalty is earned when leaders put the needs of others first, you can rest assured knowing Iron Mountain is your trusted information management partner who can be relied on to put your business objectives ahead of anything else.”

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Believe it or not, it’s almost the end of the year! Maple Ridge Farms has some great tips on how you can increase your 4th quarter sales so you can reach your end-of-year goals! Take a look:

The Easiest Way to Increase Your 4th Quarter Sales – Food Gifts

It’s easy to sell holiday food gifts if you know a few basic points. The best place to start is with your existing customers. According to American Express, half of all business gifts purchased for the holidays are food gifts. Business food gift sales are estimated to be about $5 billion dollars. If your customers aren’t asking to buy food gifts from you, chances are it’s because they don’t know you sell food gifts.

Here are 7 Key Facts to help you secure their business:

Convenience! Rather than sending an employee to the store or spending hours on the internet trying to find the right gifts, clients can easily purchase their food gifts from you.

Gifts to promote your client’s company and help build their brand. When recipients open their gift, the first thing they’ll see is your client’s logo.

Value driven pricing. Our volume purchasing and the absence of certain middle-men allows clients to purchase gifts from you for less than they would have to pay elsewhere for stuffy, overpriced brand names.

Fresher gifts taste better! Our gifts are packed-to-order just before the order is shipped, not made up many months in advance like so many gifts from the mail-order and retail giants.

We can arrange for shipment to the client or directly to each recipient. We will even enclose their greeting or business card.

No catalogs or promotional literature in your client’s gifts. Maple Ridge Farms never puts its catalog or promotional literature in your client’s gifts which is a very common practice for the giant food gift companies.

7. No risk . . . because all gifts come with a 100% Money-Back Guarantee.

Be proactive! Make sure you clients know it is easy to purchase their holiday food gifts from you!

Maple Ridge Farms has been named the top food gift company in the promotional products industry for 14 years in a row. Business gift programs are our only business, so we understand your needs. For 35 years we have been helping businesses strengthen their relationships with their customers and employees – and we’re eager to put the experience to work for you!